Owls Between Friends
by GryffinMiraur
Summary: Same story (Alicia Spinnet's correspondence with her friends summer after GoF) but with improvements, I'm only halfway through them at the moment, but I will be posting them later on.
1. Angelina, Katie, Harry

Disclaimer: Not mine, but the wonderful J.K. Rowling's except for Alicia's little brother who I claim as mine.

A/N: Many thanks to my beta reader Zsenya who suggested I add narratives to the letters and fixed my comma errors (I'm working on them.) 

**Owls Between Friends**

The church bell down the lane clanged the hour as the gentle hum of lawnmowers filled the air of Williston Avenue. Alicia Spinnet leaned out of her window, breathed in the grass scent of summer and sneezed. It happened every summer. For the first week after she returned home from Hogwarts, she developed allergies and then, just as suddenly they were gone. Alicia figured it was a combination of psychology and biology. She was homesick for Hogwarts and reacting to the lack of magic in the air. Still, it was always nice to be home especially now. She was surprised that the Muggle world didn't notice anything, but then, they never did. 

"Alicia! I'm going down to the shops. Watch Will, would you?"

"All right, Mum." Alicia shut the window. So much for the book about the Holyhead Harpies. Will was not exactly what one would call sedentary. As if to prove it, there was a loud crash from downstairs. Alicia rolled her eyes and headed downstairs. Ten-year-old Will was sitting in the middle of the wreckage of a jar full of biscuits.

"Will! Are you all right?"

Will nodded, "I'm fine"

"Well, the biscuits aren't. Will, you could have asked me"

"I wanted to do it myself" Will said stubbornly.

"Yes, that's exactly what you said when you fell out of the apple tree last year. _Reparo._" 

"I hate when you do that. Just because you're a witch . . . " 

Alicia sighed. Being a witch in a family of Muggles was no easy task. She knew her family loved her, but sometimes they didn't quite know what to make of her.  They had never been sure whether her abilities were a gift or a curse. They almost hadn't let her attend Hogwarts, but she'd begged and pleaded and promised to do well and they had relented. She was reluctant to tell them about what had taken place that year for fear she wouldn't be able to come.

"Look, Will, tell you what, I'll let you borrow my copy of _Quidditch Through the_ _Ages_, and you let me write a letter in peace"

Will jumped up, "Really?! I'll be quiet; you can write your letter!"

"Come on," Alicia led her little brother up the stairs. When they reached her room, she handed him the book, which he took reverently. He sat down on the floor and began to read as Alicia took out quill and parchment.

 _Tuesday_

Dear Angelina,                                                                                       

      It's so strange to be back in the Muggle world. Everyone is so calm and it feels so wrong for it to be so calm when so much has happened. I still can't believe Cedric is dead and You Know Who is back. Remember fifth year when we all had crushes on him? And after Harry fell, he wanted a rematch? Why is it always the good people who are killed or have dreadful things happen to them? I don't think I'll ever forget the look on Harry's face. And that's the worst part. At that time, I was horrified that Cedric was dead but at the same time, all I was saying to myself was _Thank God it's not Harry_. It makes me feel so guilty. I guess it's because even though I don't know Harry that well, I feel as though he's an extra little brother. It's not fair for someone like him to be picked on so much. 

And speaking of bad things happening to good people, Angie, please watch out for yourself and if you see Fred don't let him persuade you to be completely reckless. After all, we can't have a Best Chaser's Union with only two and I know how you are sometimes.

                                               Love,

                                                    Alicia

Alicia folded the letter and opened Athena's cage. The brown owl clicked her beak and stuck out her leg for the letter.

"Go on, to Angelina." Athena gave her an affectionate nip and left through the window that Will had thoughtfully opened.

Angelina Johnson was studying the broom models in _Which Broomstick. _She'd done very well that year and her parents had offered to get her a new broom. She really wanted a Firebolt like Harry's, but it was much too expensive. The Nimbus line was looking good. Maybe she could get a _Nimbus 2000_. Yes, that was it. A _Nimbus 2000_. She circled the Nimbus and shut the magazine.  A _Nimbus 2000_ though was a reminder of what had happened a few years ago.  In fact, broomsticks in general, only reminded her what had happened at Hogwarts that year. Angelina shook her head. She didn't want to think about that. She glanced up at the photo on her bookshelf.

The whole team waved wildly at her as Wood held up the Cup. The twins had used their clubs to form a sort of archway over Wood's head. Harry stood in front of Wood while she, Katie and Alicia kneeled in front holding up two fingers in victory signs. 

She grinned back at the photo as something knocked at her window. She glanced up. Alicia's owl was waiting outside the window. Angelina smiled and opened the window. She eagerly removed the letter and read it through. Oh dear, poor Alicia, but it was nice to know that she wasn't crazy, or if she was, that both she and Alicia were. She scribbled a reply and sent it off.

Thursday       

Dear Alicia,                                                 

Reckless things? With _Fred_? You must be joking. 

        I understand why you feel guilty because I feel the same way. I think all of us do. We're all so glad Harry's all right. I wonder if it is because we need him in the future. He could be the Boy Who Lived Twice. I know that sounds flippant but sometimes in dark times you really need a sense of humor. 

         Mum works for the Ministry and she says Fudge is trying to discredit Harry. She was beginning to believe him but then I told her  that I'd seen Harry after he came out of the maze and if he was making it up, then he was an extremely good actor. Anyone who looked like that must have encountered You Know Who. I'm scared, Lis, I don't mind telling you that and I know Kit is scared too.  And to think, before I was worrying about whether I'd be Quidditch captain or Head Girl. I don't care that much about either now. What I care about is friendship and sticking together.

       Oh, and by the way, how is your Weasley pursuit coming along?

                                                                     Love,

                                                                            Angelina

As she watched the owl go, it occurred to her that perhaps Fred might appreciate a letter as well. She pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and began to write.

"Bell! Get over here!" Mrs. Alvers glared at Katie who had been cleaning the window, "I don't know what I'm paying you for. Honestly . . ."

            Katie made a face at Mrs. Alvers' back.  Working and boarding at the tea shop had been her parents' idea. She had to slow down, they said, and learn some discipline.  Or, Katie amended, be tortured for a while. Mrs. Alvers treated her as a sort of paid Cinderella.  Sometimes it was hard to paste a bright smile on her face when serving a customer because she was just waiting for Mrs. Alvers to reprimand her for neglecting another.  Slowing down was an impossibility. Discipline, on the other hand, well, Katie was keeping a notebook filled with all the things she'd like to say to Mrs. Alvers.  If it hadn't been for the tea shop's proximity to Zonko's and Quality Quidditch Supplies, Katie concluded that she would have long ago been driven insane. She did tend to dawdle by the shop windows when she went out to get supplies.

            Mrs. Alvers' harsh voice broke into her thoughts, "Bell! You're supposed to be helping me close the shop!"

            Katie sighed and climbed up to pull down the curtain over the door. Her foot slipped and she fell with a crash onto the floor of the shop as a letter floated in through the window she'd forgotten to close and landed on her chest. She picked it up, read the address and giggled. Boy, did Alicia know her. The address read

                                Katie Bell

                                The Floor

                                Quality Teas

                                Diagon Alley, London

Saturday

Dear Kit,                                                                                                                                                                                              

          How are you? I'm still trying to understand everything that's happened. Angie says right now the most important thing is friendship. I want you to know that I'm here if you ever need to talk especially with your parents being Aurors.  

           I've got some nice photos from the Yule Ball. You really were the "Bell" of the Ball if you pardon the expression. Poor Wood, but then again, you gave him a chance, didn't you? 

           It just all seems so unreal to me, you know? Which is why I keep focusing on mundane things. Did you feel at all glad that Harry was alive and Cedric wasn't? That sounds awful. I mean, did you feel bad that Cedric died but glad that it wasn't Harry? If you felt that way, don't worry, so did Angelina and I. I told her if she saw Fred not to let him persuade her into doing anything reckless.  Don't you do anything reckless either, Katie. I know you.

                                      Love,

                                             Alicia

As Katie read her letter, she reflected on how useful it was to be named Katherine. It was a versatile name especially for nicknames. She could be anything depending on her mood and depending on the friend she was talking to. The twins, Lee, Angelina and Alicia all called her Kit.  To Oliver, she'd been Kates, to her family she was Katie except for her Aunt Katherine who, for obvious reasons, addressed her as Katherine. And when she was in a bad mood, she was Kathy. 

Alicia did sound awfully worried, but at the same time, Katie was relieved to know that she  was not the only one who had been disturbed by Dumbledore's statement at the feast at the end of the year. She pondered briefly what to write back and chewed for a moment on her quill before writing.

Monday

Dearest Mother Alicia,                                                                                                                                                         

             The Bell of the Ball? That's the worst pun I ever heard. But you have to send me the photos anyway especially that one of you and George. Talk about cute couples. Focusing on mundane things is good; it keeps you from focusing on the morbid.

And I'm so glad that you said that about Cedric and Harry. When I tried to explain it to Mum and Dad, they didn't understand.  Cedric was, well, Cedric but Harry, Harry is _our _Harry if that makes any sense. I wish there were some way we could make that clear to him. Maybe we should send him an owl.

         The _Daily Prophet_ is going to make a mess of things as usual. Stupid rag. Why can't the wizarding world be like the Muggle world and have more than one paper?

You told Angelina not to be reckless if she saw Fred? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. If you saw George, you'd do something reckless in a heartbeat wouldn't you? Speaking of which, how is your web to trap the Weasley coming, Spinnet?

                                                                                         Love,

                                                                                               Kit

Wednesday

Kit,                                                                                                                              

       You make me sound like a black widow spider.

                                                                   Lis.

Friday

Lis,                                                                                                                                                                                               

With a name like Spinnet, how could you not have some arachnid tendencies?

                                                                                Kit.

Harry lay in the flower bed hoping to hear something on the Muggle news, but, as usual, there was nothing. The sun was setting and Harry stood up just as a small brown owl swooped down on him. The owl looked vaguely familiar, he knew he'd seen it at the Gryffindor table before, but he didn't know whose it was. He didn't recognize the scripted handwriting on the address either. Curious, Harry opened the letter. It was from his fellow Gryffindor Chasers.

Sunday

Dear Harry,                                                                                                                                                                                                       

         We hope your summer is going well (read: not too terrible although from what we've heard about the Muggles you live with . . .). We missed Quidditch practice with you this year although from your flying against the Horntail you clearly don't need any. Next year, we're definitely going to get the Cup again. 

           We know that we're boring older girls but we want you to know that we don't just think of you as a teammate or a fellow Gryffindor, you're our friend too and we missed you this year. Lady Green-eyes says life just wasn't the same without her Lord.

                                                       Love from,

                                                               Katie, Angelina and Alicia, aka Lady Green-eyes

He read the letter several times, hoping that maybe there was something in between the lines that might  tell him something about Voldemort, but, just like the Muggle news, there was nothing. Well, he reflected, it was at least nice of them to write to him and it wasn't as if they would necessarily know anything. And it would be the polite thing to write back to them. 

Tuesday

Dear Chasers,                                                                                                                                                                                                   

              Things could be worse, I suppose. But it was nice to get your owl. I didn't expect to get an owl from you. I hope your summers are going better than mine.

                                                                         Harry


	2. George, Fred, Angelina, Lee

Disclaimer: As usual, these characters are the property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I am merely borrowing them for the moment.

A/N: As always, thanks to Zsenya for beta-reading and offering Helpful Suggestions.

Alicia spread the photos of the Yule Ball out on her bedspread. Fred and Angelina waved exuberantly up at her before Fred pulled Angelina into a wild tango ending with a gravity defying dip. In the next photo, Kit was sitting on a table holding court with several attractive Beauxbatons boys. Alicia grinned; all Kit really needed to look like a vampish flapper from the 1920s was a long, silver cigarette holder. In the third photograph, she, Angelina, and Kit appeared to have overdosed slightly on Butterbeer. They had adopted a line position and had lifted their robes just enough to show their ankles. It had been Kit's idea. She'd found some old photographs from balls that had taken place during the Victorian era. One of the photos had had three girls posing in just the same way. Across the photo, a disapproving hand had written _Scandalous! 30 points from Ravenclaw._ The three Chasers had burst into hysterical laughter and decided that they had to imitate it. In the fourth photograph she turned over, she and George were smiling up from the photograph, but on closer examination, George was casually dropping something into her drink while pretending to drape an arm around her shoulders. Her photographic self sipped from the glass and was promptly gifted with purple hair.  The photographic George doubled over with laughter and the sequence began again. Alicia shook her head and sighed. Typical, how typical. 

Although annoyed at George's behavior, Alicia found it somehow reassuring that, despite what had happened in the past year, George was the type who would always be able to find humor in a situation.  She really had enjoyed herself at the Yule Ball.  She had never told this to George, but then, she wasn't quite sure if she was free to do so.  Had he asked her as a friend, or as something more?  She pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment from her desk drawer and began to write.

Wednesday

Dear George,                                                                                                                 

I feel strange writing you a letter like this. It doesn't seem flippant or funny enough but somehow I think you'll understand this better than anyone else and I know you do have your serious side. I want you to use it now and please, please don't show this to Fred.

            I'm scared. Terrified, really. I may not have been aware of You-Know-Who's reign of terror while it was going on, but I do read. You know I get top marks in HoM boring as it is. And I read about what it was like, for purebloods and Muggle-borns alike. I'm scared that that's coming back. I was at the Quidditch World Cup with Angelina and Kit and I saw what the Death Eaters did to that poor campsite owner and his family. All I could think was that that could be me. That could be my family. And the Dark Mark. I've never seen anything so disturbing in all my life. The thought that I could come home and see that hovering above my house and know that Mum and Dad and Will are all dead or worse than dead haunts me.

          The Yule Ball seems so far away and mundane. But Kit says mundane things keep us from focusing on the morbid. So I wanted to tell you that I really had a good time with you. Even if you did turn my hair purple at the end. Damn Color-Changing Cocktails. Oh well, I always wanted to know what I would look like with a wild hair color.  

          It's funny that that all seems so trivial now though I was so annoyed with you at the time. I wish that were all I was worried about now. You and Fred really do need to open your joke shop as soon as possible. Sometimes the only sense you can make out of life is a sense of humor and I think that's especially appropriate now.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Alicia

            Breakfast at the Weasley table was always an event. All the Weasleys had learned from experience not to sit on Errol and to sit far enough back from the table so as not to get splashed by cereal when Errol fell into it or when Ron's tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, engaged in his favorite habit of nose-diving into the cereal. On this particular morning, Pig's aim had been off and, instead of diving into Ron's cereal as he'd planned, he'd fallen into one of the bowls that Fred and George had tampered with and was now covered in a series of ultra-orange polka dots. The twins decided that now would be a good time to make themselves scarce. They were followed, however, by a persistent brown owl which dropped a letter on George's head and made its way out the open window of their bedroom.

            "Who's it from?" Fred asked.

            George looked at the envelope, "Alicia."

            "Ah, the lovely Lady Green-Eyes, and what does she have to say?"  Fred asked, making a quick grab for the envelope. Fred was responsible for the nickname. He'd come up with it during a Quidditch practice when Harry and Alicia had collided with each other because both of them had responded to George's yell of "Hey, Green-eyes, look out!" Fred had decided to give both Harry and Alicia titles to prevent that sort of confusion from ever happening again. Among their circle of friends, Lady Green-Eyes had stuck and it was how Fred usually addressed Alicia.

            "Is your name George?" asked George holding the envelope out of his twin's reach, "I haven't read it yet, anyway." 

            "Oh, all right," Fred turned to the table in the corner that served as their lab and began work on their latest invention, something they'd entitled Astounding Adhesives. It was actually rather different because it could be used both as a prank substance and a useful one.  

            Seeing that George had opened the letter, Fred turned back, "Well, what does she say?"

            George, who was reading his letter, grinned, "She says not to tell you."

            There ensued a brief but furious struggle over the letter which ended with the Astounding Adhesive getting everywhere including all over Fred who accidentally backed up against the wall and, when he tried to reach the letter again, discovered that the Adhesive was a great success.

            George settled down with quill and parchment to reply and Fred tried to un-stick himself from the wall. When he'd finally, with a great deal of pain, succeeded, George had nearly finished his letter. Fred had a sudden idea; he, just like everyone else in their circle, was tired of seeing George and Alicia circle around each other.

            "Hey, I'm meeting Angelina in Diagon Alley next Wednesday-."

            "I know this, you've told me this at least ten times-."

            "I'm not finished, you should ask Alicia if she wants to go with you."

            George shrugged in an exaggeratedly casual manner and added a postscript. 

Friday

Dear Alicia,                                                                

        How about green hair next time? Thanks for the encouragement. We certainly don't get any from Mum. I'm glad you had a good time at the Ball. Does that mean I can count on you if there's another one this year?

          If it's any comfort, we're a bit unsettled ourselves. I remember when we were very little, we had to be very quiet all the time and of course for Fred and me that was a very difficult task. Maybe even more so than facing a Blast- Ended Skrewt. At least then you can yell things at it.

          There's more hope this time, I think. You know, because of Harry and his faithful sidekicks. After all, You Know Who has tried to come back for the past three years and hasn't really succeeded.  In any case, none of us will let anything happen to anyone else. We stick together especially if you use our new invention, Astounding Adhesives. Fred is currently trying to un-stick himself from the wall which, one, proves that it works quite well and two, prevents him looking over my shoulder at what I am writing. 

         You say a sense of humor is a good thing. Good girl. I'm enclosing a few Canary Creams. You can be our walking _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_ endorsement. 

                                                                                George

p.s. Fred says he's meeting up with Angelina in Diagon Alley next Wednesday, would you fancy meeting up as well?

Sunday

Dear George                                                                                          

       Squawk! All right, now that I've finished molting, I'd love to meet up with you in Diagon Alley. And thanks for the reassurance.

                                                                Alicia

            Alicia folded up her reply, attached it to Athena's leg, and glanced at the canary beside her. The feathers dropped off and soon Will was back to normal. 

            "Alicia," he began ingratiatingly, "will I ever get to meet the twins?"

            "I hope so," Alicia said, smiling a little dreamily and trying to decide whether this jaunt to Diagon Alley was a date or not. Will noticed this, and began to tease.

            "You _like_ him, don't you?"

            She responded in typical denial fashion, "I do not! He's just a really good friend."

            Will clearly didn't believe her and made a face at her at the same time as he began to chant, "Alicia and George, sitting in a tree-."

            Alicia rose from her chair with a terrible expression.

            "Out. Now," she said slowly and dangerously. Will took one look at her face, grabbed _Quidditch Through The Ages,_ and left the room before she hexed him. She never would have hexed him of course, that would be considered Muggle-baiting, but she liked that she _could_ hex him.

            Angelina's grey owl, Hecate, whooshed in through the window and dropped a letter on her desk.

            "Hi, Hecate," Alicia stroked the owl's feathers, "No visiting with Athena today, I'm afraid. She's off delivering a letter to George."

Friday

Dear Alicia                                                                        

         Fred has asked me to meet him in Diagon Alley next Wednesday and he just Flooed me to say that George has asked you. Told you so. Anyway, do you want to go together? If your parents say yes, you can Floo over to my house on Tuesday and spend the night and we can go to Diagon Alley together in the morning.

                                                                               Love,

                                                                                    Angelina

Tuesday

Angie,                                       

       Wild hippogriffs couldn't keep me away.

                                                                Lis

There was a soft flump and Alicia turned to see Errol slumped on her bed. She was popular today. This letter was addressed in Fred's handwriting. She performed a quick spell check on the envelope and found, to her great surprise, that there were no hexes or charms or anything on the envelope. She opened it warily, but nothing besides a piece of parchment jumped out at her.

Friday

Dearest ever Lady Green-Eyes,                   

         Whatever was in that letter that George wouldn't let me look at? Can an equally attractive Weasley persuade you to write me one like that? Angie wouldn't like it of course, but I'm notoriously curious about things that are none of my business.

                                                                                                   Fred

She giggled.  There was only one response to that.

Sunday

Dear Fred,

          Bugger off.

                       Alicia

Tuesday

Alicia, 

       Angie will tell me everything anyway.

                                                             Fred

Thursday

Alicia,            

       I've hexed him by owl so don't worry.

                                                                                 Angelina

p.s. See you Tuesday.

            Alicia smiled and wondered how, exactly, Angelina had hexed him. Oh well, she supposed she would hear on Tuesday.  The noise from the television downstairs about the latest football match reminded her that she ought to write to Lee. His Quidditch commentary had apparently attracted WWN officials who thought he would be capable of commentating on professional matches. However, there was a lot of competition for spaces and Lee was in the midst of that competition right now. If he made it, then he wouldn't have to worry about NEWTs or anything.  He could probably use some good luck wishes.

Thursday

Dear Lee,                                                                                              

        How are tryouts going? I really hope you're successful. I'd love to be able to turn on the WWN and hear you commentating. I missed your Quidditch commentary this year although your running commentary on the Tasks was quite amusing.  That was really sweet of you to take that Hufflepuff fourth year to the Yule Ball. Every time I saw her in the corridors afterward, she had a huge smile on her face. It did wonders for her looks.

        Do your parents approve? Are you as nervous as I am about seventh year and You Know Who and everything? 

                                                            Love from,

                                                                       Alicia

Lee Jordan was finding it hard not to be intimidated. The witch on his left was looking disapprovingly at his dreadlocks and the wizard on his right was looking disapprovingly at Betsy who was snoozing on his shoulder.

The sour faces of the WWN administrators and his competitors were causing a definite drop in his confidence. Apparently, his bouncy commentary with its frivolous asides was not what they wanted.

Fresh blood. Ha. Only if it acted just as the old blood had done. Lee was beginning to feel tempted to pull a face at the world in general.

A witch holding a clipboard appeared in the doorway, "Jarvis, Jillian" she stated in a flat voice. The witch who had been staring at Lee's hair stood up, threw him another disapproving look and disappeared through the doorway. Lee looked after her thinking that she didn't look like a Jillian at all, the name seemed too friendly.  At that moment, a brown owl swooped in through the window. Lee scooped Betsy up and put her protectively in his shirt pocket. 

The owl wasn't interested in Betsy though. It dropped a letter on his head and settled down on the table to wait for a reply. Lee looked down at the envelope. Alicia's familiar handwriting was scrawled across it. He opened the envelope.

"Look, Betsy. Alicia sent us a letter."

Betsy poked herself out of his pocket to take a look. She was a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for.

Alicia's writing always made him smile. She was so serious about everything. It always amused him that they'd met because, on the Weasley twins' urging, he'd dropped a dead spider down the back of her robes during their first Potions class. 

He read through her letter, grinned, turned it over, and wrote his response on the back. They'd always written letters to each other like that. Neither of them was quite sure why. Alicia called it _recycling._ Lee called it _silly_.

Dear Chaser Spinnet,                                

          Tryouts are as to be expected. I'm doing my best, but I have the feeling I'm not boring enough in my commentating. All the other commentators are old balding wizards and McGonagall look-alikes. I can't wait to get back to school and my regular commentating schedule.

          My parents would rather I do something more respectable. They think I ought to be a Healer like Great-Aunt Betsy. I wouldn't be a Healer, but even if I would be, I wouldn't want to be one like Great-Aunt Betsy. There's a reason my tarantula's name is Betsy; the family resemblance is astonishing and Betsy the tarantula is the better-looking of the two.

          The Hufflepuff's name is Eloise. For someone who's afraid of heights, she knows a lot about Quidditch and she didn't make fun of my dancing either which I appreciated. Nor did she ditch me for one of those Beauxbatons prats.

      And I'm trying not to think about You-Know-Who or the NEWTs.  

                                                                                   Commentator Jordan


	3. George, Fred

Disclaimer: All the property of J.K. Rowling, I am merely borrowing and am not making a cent off this.

A/N: I'm sorry this has taken so long, but I haven't been in places with internet access for a long time and as I'm going away again soon, I can't promise any really regular updates until the 21st of March when I am firmly grounded on U.S. soil again.  But for now, here is Chapter 3. Thanks go as always to Zsenya, my wonderful beta reader who is re-teaching me about commas which have always been my Waterloo.

Alicia contemplated the piece of parchment before her and grinned. What could she write after a day like that? If she'd been confused about her status before, she wasn't anymore. 

Diagon Alley had been better than she'd expected. 

When she arrived at Angelina's house, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson greeted her pleasantly, but Angelina rushed forward, not caring that she was covered in soot and given her a nearly bone-cracking hug

"Alicia! Oh, I'm so glad you're here! You have to come and see the new broomstick Mum and Dad bought for me."

The new broomstick was a lovely gleaming Nimbus 2000 and Alicia raved suitably. Then Angelina, in one of her girl moments, snatched the broomstick away and asked her what she would wear to Diagon Alley the following day.

Alicia sighed, "I don't know. I'm not sure what this is. I mean-,"

"A date, Alicia dear, a date, haven't you ever been on one before?" Angelina was grinning at her in an aggravating manner.

"How do _you_ know?" 

"Because Fred told me that George hesitated before writing you a PS and that he had to suggest it," Angelina was logical and psychological, "therefore, that means that he was nervous which means that he likes you and thus, Diagon Alley tomorrow is a date," she switched tactics, "you did bring your green robes, didn't you?"

Alicia nodded.

"Good, wear those" Angelina's voice brooked no argument. Alicia found Angelina's confidence reassuring and inspiring.  This might have been because Angelina was usually right. 

When the Yule Ball had rolled around the year before, Alicia had asked Angelina who she was going with.

"Fred" Angelina had replied matter-of-factly.

"You mean he's asked you already?"

"No, but he will."

And she'd been right, ten minutes later Fred had shouted an invitation across the common room.

"Say, Angie, how did you hex Fred by owl?"

Angelina laughed, "Got him with one of his own spells, the Prancing Parchment. I knew it would come in handy."

Alicia laughed too. Prancing Parchment looked exactly like regular parchment until it was touched with the fingers and then the unfortunate victim ended up prancing about for two hours. 

The next day, Fred and Angelina greeted each other as exuberantly as they danced. George and Alicia were a bit less so. Alicia was feeling rather awkward. If this had been a casual, "Hey, Lis, let's go down to Hogsmeade" it wouldn't have been so strange, but the dynamic had changed.

"You two got here pretty quickly, I thought it might take longer for you to Apparate," Angelina commented.

"No," George said. "Actually, we just walked. We're staying in London right now helping a friend with decontamination."

"Decontamination?" Alicia was interested. "What type of decontamination?"

"Now, now Lady Green-eyes," said Fred, "that would be telling, wouldn't it?"

Angelina shot Alicia a crafty look and turned to Fred, "Come on, you have to show me that charm you found in that shop you were telling me about, say we all meet back up at Fortescue's at noon? See you later, you two," and before either Alicia or George could protest, she'd dragged Fred off.

Alicia and George looked at each other. Neither of them was quite sure what to say.

"Are-," George began as Alicia said "Thanks for-"

They both stopped. 

"You first," said George.

"Well, thank you for that letter. I felt a lot better after reading it."

"That's good. I was going to ask if you were all right," he paused, "Come on, I want to show you something"

"All right," she gave him a warning glance, "but you had better not do anything to my hair,"

 "All right," George flashed her an innocent smile, which instantly arose her suspicions, "I like those robes, they remind me of the ones you wore to the ball."

Alicia blushed. He'd remembered her robes?

"Although," he added, "The ones you wore to the Yule Ball weren't quite as bright."

Alicia glanced down and noticed that her robes had turned a violent shade of fluorescent green.

"George Weasley! You said you wouldn't do anything!"

"I said I wouldn't do anything to your hair," he informed her with a maddening grin. And the awkwardness was broken, he was still George Weasley

"You . . .you . . .ooooh," Alicia pulled out her wand to hex him into next week, but when she looked down again, her robes had returned to their normal state.

She shook her head in exasperation. "What is it with you and changing colors? Anyway, what did you want to show me?"

"We've got possible premises for Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes."

"Really?! Where?"

"That's what I'm going to show you. Come on"

A few minutes later they stood outside _Gambol and Japes_ which had a large Going Out of Business sign posted in the window.

"Here?" asked Alicia.

"Yes, since Zonko's expanded into Diagon Alley, Gambol and Japes just couldn't compete. They've got the same stuff and it's more expensive. Fred and I know Zonko's hasn't got any of our inventions so we figure we'll have a chance here"

"I think you will too," she looked at the dusty shop window and pictured a scrolling label on it, Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes..  She could easily imagine the popularity such a shop would have. And of course, instead of a bell, they'd probably play a joke on anyone who entered. She had a feeling that, despite what Mrs. Weasley thought, the shop would be a great success. Her musings were interrupted by a sudden tap on her shoulder.

"Ah! Don't _do_ that!" Alicia glared at George who merely grinned at her and chided her for not following Moody's invective of Constant Vigilance! Her heart rate should have gone down but she could feel it rising and she noticed that George was right at her shoulder. They didn't usually stand so close together and Alicia realized that it was his proximity that was causing her rapidly rising heart rate.  He was studying her now with a contemplative look.

            "What?" she almost snapped.

            "I was just wondering," he answered, "what you would do if I kissed you." 

            "Does . . .does that mean you want to kiss me?" It was a stupid question, she knew, but her brain was not functioning as well as it normally did at the moment. There was only one really definitive way of answering that question and George took it. He kissed her.

            Unfortunately, the moment was broken by Fred's voice, "HA! Pay up, Angie, that's five Sickles you owe me"

            They sprang apart.

            "You bet on us?" Alicia asked incredulously.

            Angelina looked sheepish as she handed five Sickles to Fred, "Well . . ."

            George held out a hand, "Come on Fred, that's three you owe _me._"

            "What?!" This was even more surprising.

            Angelina sighed, "Welcome to the ranks, Lis. They do this all the time."

             "He bet me I wouldn't kiss you before lunch," explained George.

            Alicia wondered why she was not annoyed, but rather felt an urge to laugh.

            "What did you two bet on?" she asked Angelina.

            "Nearly the same thing except in ours it was by the end of the day."

            By the end of the day, the two couples had separated again as they were saying goodbye at different Floo portals.

            It was almost as awkward as meeting up had been. Neither of them was quite sure what to say.

            Alicia was wondering several things and although she merely meant to say goodbye, confessions and questions spilled from her mouth before she could do anything to stop them.

            "George, I-, did you only kiss me because of that bet? I mean, I know we've been friends since first year when you told Lee to drop that spider down my robes, but since our fifth year, I've, well, I feel a bit more than friendship. " The words were out there and now there was nothing she could do to take them back. She was surprised to see an expression of both relief and surprise spread over his features.

            "Really?" he asked, "Why didn't you say anything before now?"

            "Because I wasn't sure, I thought maybe you and that Ravenclaw-,"

            "What Ravenclaw? Alicia, remember when we won the Quidditch Cup?"

            "You mean when that Slytherin claimed to mistake me for a Bludger?"

            "Yes, Alicia, I don't whack Bludgers at Slytherins for just anybody."

            "Well, if that's true, why didn't _you_ say anything?"

            "The same reason you didn't. I thought you and that Hufflepuff, well, you know . . ."

            And then both of them burst out "But I went to the Yule Ball with _you_!"

            There was silence as they looked at each other. George was the first to break it.

            "Well, there's only one thing to do now"

            Alicia blinked, "What's that?"

            He kissed her.  "Goodbye, Alicia, send an owl when you can."

            "Of course I will."  She turned to the Floo portal and said loudly, "Spinnet Residence!"

The blank piece of parchment stared up at her and she smiled, she knew precisely what to write now.

Wednesday

Dear George,                                                                                                     

         Grand-mum says that when you have a pleasant day with a gentleman friend, you are supposed to write him a nice thank you note. Of course, her definition of nice and my definition of nice may be rather different. 

           For example, I don't think she'd approve of my writing thank you for kissing me so nicely. But I think that's perfectly acceptable. As if no one in the older generation had hormones.  How the heck did **_we_** get here then?

              I'm less scared for me now I've got you. I have, haven't I? I'm scared for Harry especially with all the rubbish the **Daily Prophet** has been printing. Seriously, though, thank you for a lovely time in Diagon Alley and for letting my hair remain its natural shade. I can't say the same for my robes though.

          Lee says he can't wait to do commentary again. I just can't wait to play Quidditch again.

                                                                   Love,

                                                                             Alicia.

p.s. What took us so long?

Breakfast at Grimmauld Place could be just as chaotic as at the Burrow what with Tonks tripping over everything and Mrs. Black screeching her consistent mantra. Owls for various members of the Order swooped in and out and sometimes it was hard to tell exactly who an owl was aiming for. Not to mention that the twins had passed their tests and Apparated everywhere without thinking.  Mrs. Weasley was at her wits' end.

The third time that the twins Apparated into her, she lost her temper.

"That's it, you two! If you're so keen on Apparating, you can Apparate yourselves right up into the second guestroom with Sirius and help him clean it!"

Of course, no one ever dared quarrel with Mrs. Weasley when she was in that sort of mood and so Fred and George obeyed her. The room they were in was covered in dust and a stench from near one of the heating ducts indicated-

"Yes," said Sirius, straightening up from where he'd been looking underneath it, "It's another bunch of dead Puffskeins.

Fred and George looked at each other. The first dead Puffskein had been an enormous help in some of their experiments, but these didn't look like they'd be any use at all. They'd obviously been there for years and years and were merely a bunch of moldy old bones.

"Well," said George, trying to make the best of things, "at least there isn't too much to clean up."

Sirius gave a hollow laugh. "Not in this room, but the rest of the house"

There was a sudden thumping against one of the dusty windows. In any other house but Grimmauld Place, this thumping would not necessarily have been cause for alarm. However, Grimmauld Place had many unexpected booby traps that came from plenty of unexpected places.

Sirius crossed to the window and opened it carefully. The only trap waiting for him was a large brown owl with a letter clamped firmly in her beak. He took it from her and read the address.

"Your friend's got a very smart owl to find you here, George," Sirius suddenly grinned in a slightly mischievous manner, "Or should I say your _girlfriend_?"

"Give me that!" snapped George, sounding, to his dismay, a lot more like Percy than he'd ever thought he could.

"All right, all right," said Sirius handing him the letter.

George read it twice to make sure that he hadn't misunderstood anything and that she really had enjoyed herself at Diagon Alley and that now they really were more than friends. When he'd satisfied himself about the answers, Mrs. Weasley called them all to dinner and George Apparated straight into the soup tureen, much to his mother's dismay.

And it was not the last time for such a mis-Apparation to occur. 

Friday

Dear Alicia,                                                    

          Yes, you have. As to what took us so long, we're both just clueless. You should know that Fred and I only made that bet so I wouldn't lose my nerve. I can't wait for Quidditch either. Fred and I are both really annoyed by those _Daily Prophet_ stories. We're tempted to use their heads for Bludger practice. What do you suppose the DADA teacher will be like this year? 

                                                                            Love,

                                                                                  George

p.s. Fred and I passed our Apparition exams.

Dear Lady Green-eyes,                                       

                   You've gone and done it. Made my twin and business partner completely useless. He's mooning about with your letter looking like Percy he's been hit by a veela charm. Thanks a lot.

                                                                       Fred

Dear Fred,                                                                    

         As if you weren't in the same state after the Yule Ball last year.

                                                                                   Lady Green-eyes


	4. Katie and Angelina

Disclaimer: It seems that, after the first chapter, these things are redundant but better to err on the side of caution so these characters do not belong to me, they belong to J.K. Rowling. I am merely borrowing them.

A/N: I apologize in advance for twice using the word that Cap'n Kathy hates, but the three Chasers _are_ teenage girls after all. I think I must have used that word at least twice a day when I was sixteen (I think I've matured a bit since then, now I just bounce). As usual, an enormous amount of thanks to Zsenya for her wonderful beta reading and travel guide skills.

If it wasn't possible to sit around and giggle with her two best friends in person, Alicia figured the next best thing would be to write to them. She'd wanted to go to France with them but her mother had put her foot down.

            "Witch or not, you are still part of this family and you are going on holiday with us!"

            "Besides," her father had added, "you can tell us all about the wizarding parts of Italy."

            Will had emphasized his desire for her company through the wounded puppy-dog eyes look he had been practicing, "It wouldn't be any fun without you, Alicia."

            As a result, here she was in Italy, which on the whole was quite nice. It was just the timing she objected to. Then again, she didn't really want to be in France either. She wanted to be home, where London was only one Floo portal away. 

           She sighed. It was only for two weeks, after all, and when she'd agreed to go with her parents she'd had no way of knowing what would happen in Diagon Alley.  It helped that the villa they had rented was comfortable and had a sea view.She'd already found all the hidden passages that indicated that the villa had at one time belonged to wizards. Actually, it had been Will who had found the first one. He'd been examining the top of a carved banister and suddenly dropped out of sight. 

            Alicia propped one foot up on the edge of the balcony and tilted her chair back into a comfortable position. She considered what she and Katie and Angelina would be doing if it were just the three of them. She knew she would be giving in to her less serious side and she pictured the pillow fight they would inevitably have. Alicia grinned and rifled through the paperbacks she'd scattered all over the balcony to find her quill and parchment.

Saturday

Dear Angie and Kit,                                                                                 

I know you guys are on holiday together in France (Bonjour!) at the moment. I'm on holiday too in Italy (Buon giorno!) but I had to write a girly letter to you guys.  Because I'm really really happy about this. Which means, all together now: SQUEEE! 

              Diagon Alley. How wonderful was that. I've ensnared my Weasley. Finally. And it turns out I ensnared him two years ago but neither of us had the courage to say anything. 

         Kit, Angie, I was wrong and you were right. I'm so glad I was wrong too.  Fred wrote me and said I've made George useless to him right now. Heh. Serves him right.

            The villa we're staying in is pretty and it has had wizarding inhabitants. I've already explored all the passages. When we're all back together I'll show you the notes I took and Angelina, maybe you and I can work on that dreadful HoM assignment from Binns.

.

                                                                                               Love,

                                                                                                    Alicia

            "And then he said he thought he had been wrong and that maybe we should talk-,"

            "So that's when he asked you to come see his Quidditch game?" Angelina propped herself up on her elbow and looked intently at her friend.

            Kit nodded. 

            "Wow. I've never been to a professional Quidditch game before except for the World Cup." 

            Kit sat up, "Angelina! It's not about Quidditch! It's about us!"

            "All right, all right.  But you'll have to tell me about the game anyway, you know I'm interested in playing professionally myself."

            "Yes, I know, I'm still surprised you didn't bring your new Nimbus 2000 with you."

            "Says the girl who polishes her Comet 260 five times a day."

            Kit threw a pillow at her. Angelina threw one back. Fifteen minutes later, the two girls were helpless with laughter and the hotel room in which they were ensconced was covered in feathers.

            "I wish Alicia could be here with us," Angelina said wistfully.

            "Me too. What happened in Diagon Alley?"

            "She didn't tell you?"

"No . . ."

"That's surprising. I thought she'd be shouting from the rooftops."

The tapping at the window startled both of them but they recognized Alicia's brown owl instantly. Athena looked disapprovingly around the disordered hotel room but waited patiently while they read over Alicia's letter and determined what to reply.

"I knew it!" Katie grinned triumphantly. 

"Finally," Angelina agreed.

Monday

Dear Alicia,                                                                                

We send a SQUEEE back to you.  Finally. Now we don't have to put up with any more moaning in the locker rooms after Quidditch, in the corridors, in the dorm and the common room.  We also glory in being able to say we told you so. We told you so. We told you so. We told you so.

             Oh, you thought Diagon Alley was wonderful did you? Was that before or after the snog session? This is Angelina writing by the way. And yes, I'm definitely interested in working on that essay when you get back. Kit was squealing earlier, too. But I'll let her write now. A certain former Quidditch captain has come to his senses and asked me if I wanted to come to one of his games and if it doesn't last for two days have dinner with him after. I know, I know, but that accent, and he did the puppy dog eyes thing. That melts me. 

              We're really happy for you Alicia. Can't wait till school starts.

                                                       Love,

 Kit and Angie

p.s. This is Katie again, what am I supposed to do when you two graduate? Nooo! Fail your NEWTs please.

            It was the fourth paperback she'd gone through and Alicia was beginning to wonder if anyone ever wrote anything that was not about dysfunctional families, grisly murders or unrealistic romances.  But reading these novels was better than writing her homework essays as she should have been doing. 

            She'd tried, really she had, but the brilliant sunshine had caused her Transfiguration book to slide off her lap and be replaced by _Numbered in Knockturn Alley_, one of the more entertaining grisly murder novels.  The nice thing about wizarding mystery novels was that the villain changed according to the reader's mood so the ending was different every time. This time, Alicia suspected it was the beauteous Deborah Montrose who had murdered her husband for his vast wealth. 

            Will had homework to do as well but his homework had fallen by the wayside in favor of his favorite book _Quidditch Through The Ages_. He'd pestered Alicia so much about borrowing her copy that finally she'd given in and, when she was in Diagon Alley, bought him his own. Will really wished he could play Quidditch and although Alicia was wary of encouraging him, she was beginning to notice signs that might indicate that he could. He always seemed to be able to find their way if they were lost and get them places in less time than predicted. 

            "Alicia, what kind of broom do you have?"

            "I told you yesterday, Will. I have a Cleansweep 8. Angelina just got a Nimbus 2000 though and Harry Potter has a Firebolt."

            "Is yours a good broom?"

            "Yes, but theirs are better. Harry's is best though. Let me read now, I'm just about to find out who killed him"

            "OK, say, isn't that Athena?" Will pointed out the brown speck winging its way toward them.

            Alicia nodded as the owl drew closer, "Yes, it is. Must be Kit and Angie's reply."

            She read their letter and smiled. Angelina didn't really require a reply to this letter but Kit did. She scribbled off a quick reply and sent Athena off again promising her a vacation and plenty of Owl Treats when she returned.       

Wednesday

Dear Kit,                                                                                                 

        HAL voice (remember the Muggle movie I showed you?): I'm sorry, Katie, I can't do that.

         Several squeals back at you Kit. I hope Puddlemere has a really fast Seeker so you can have a nice long dinner and discussion. I wouldn't be able to resist the puppy dog eyes either, and you combine that with the accent, well, I can understand if you ended up a puddle on the floor.

                                                                                        Love,

                                                                                             Alicia


	5. George

Disclaimer:  I am merely borrowing the wonderful characters that currently belong to J.K. Rowling and will not be making any profit off of this.

A/N: Thanks as always to Zsenya for her expert beta-ing skills.

"I wonder," George said,"if maybe we're partially responsible for Percy."

Fred looked shocked. 

"What kind of thing is that to say? Percy's been a git for as long as I can remember."

"Well, yes, but think about it, we never gave him opportunities to not be a git," replied George.

A thoughtful expression crossed over Fred's face.

"I never thought of it like that, but maybe you're right."

"On the other hand, we might have teased him but we wouldn't have let anyone _else_ do that. He was still our brother, he ought to have known that."

The row between Percy and their father was still fresh in their minds although it had been weeks since it had occurred. 

Percy had looked as though he carried the world on his shoulders. The inquiry had not been easy on him. That day though, he arrived home with his head held high and his shoulders thrown back 

He had flung the door open and proudly announced that he'd been appointed Junior Assistant to the Minister of Magic. A silence had fallen around the table and Percy's triumphant smile had faltered.

"What is it?" he had asked.  

Mr. Weasley had risen from his chair, "It's not that you don't deserve such a position, but don't you find it a little bit odd that it's been offered to you now?"

"No, I was a good assistant to Mr. Crouch and the Minister acknowledges that."

"But, Percy, you know Fudge is trying to discredit Dumbledore. He knows we're a family that is close to Dumbledore. Perhaps he hopes to gain information."

Percy's face had drained of color and he had spoken quietly and, for him, dangerously.  "You think he wants me to be a spy for him? You don't think I'm capable?"

"You _are_ barely just out of Hogwarts, dear," Mrs. Weasley had said, gently.

"Yes," Mr. Weasley had added, "You're young. I wasn't able to get the position I had until-,"

Percy hadn't let him finish, "Yes, _you_," he had ground out between clenched teeth, "I've been struggling against your reputation ever since I joined the Ministry. Just because you never had any ambition, I'm held back because everyone assumes I haven't got any either. And I _have_. I'm not going to let my family starve because I never tried to get promoted!"

"Percy!" Mrs. Weasley had looked shocked.

But Percy hadn't been through yet. "I also know where my loyalties lie, something none of you seem to have figured out. Dumbledore may have been strong once, but he's gotten old. Is it so hard to believe that he might have been mistaken?"

Ron had stood up so fast that he nearly knocked over his chair, "What about what Harry said? Harry saw You-Know-Who, he was there!"

"Yes," Mr. Weasley had nodded, "What about Harry?"

"There's no tangible evidence except for Harry's word."

"And you don't consider that adequate?" Mr. Weasley's voice had taken on that dangerously quiet tone.

Percy had looked his father straight in the eye.

 "No," he had said, "I don't. According to the _Prophet_, he's been having funny turns all over the place."

"Don't tell me you believe what Rita Skeeter has been saying," Mr. Weasley had snapped.

"I believe she's got the measure of Dumbledore better than you have. He's leading you and Mum down a false path. As for me, as I said I know where my loyalties lie and if you don't know where yours should be-."

"We support Dumbledore as you should." Mr. Weasley interrupted.

Percy nodded as though he were making a decision, "Then you are traitors to the Ministry and I will make sure everyone knows that I am no longer associated with you or your family!"

He went upstairs and within ten minutes had quietly shut the gate behind him.

George chewed on the end of his quill. This was not going to be an easy letter to write. It would be acknowledging a sort of weakness. But he and Fred had discussed their worries about responsibility when it came to Percy and decided that the best thing to do would be to seek outside opinions. And who better to ask than the two Chasers who knew them almost as well as they knew themselves?

Friday

Dear Alicia,                                                  

      All right, I've reassured you once. Now it's your turn. Fred and I have talked about something that happened this summer and we wonder if we're at all responsible. So we thought we'd seek outside opinions from people who are sweet and sensible. But we couldn't find any so we decided to write to you and Angelina instead. Oh, and Lis, please don't tell anyone else about this except for Lee or Kit.

       Remember Percy? Well, he and Dad had a horrible row a week after term ended. Percy believes Fudge. He came home all puffed up and excited because he'd been promoted to Junior Assistant to the Minister of Magic. Dad reckons it was only because Fudge wanted someone to spy on Dumbledore or something like that and when he tried to mention this to Percy, Percy exploded and left. He's got a flat in London now and every time he's mentioned, Mum cries and Dad breaks something.

         I know Fred and I teased him a lot about being Head Boy and prefect and Crouch's assistant etc. but he is- was still our brother. Do you think that we may have teased him too much? Is that possible? 

                                                                          Love,

                                                                                George

           Unfortunately, ever since she'd come of age, Alicia's family had decided to increase the amount of chores she was required to do. It wasn't malicious on her family's part, it was just, as Mr. Spinnet had put it, a matter of taking advantage of the resources at hand. Alicia could use magic, therefore chores like washing dishes or doing laundry were easier for her, but Alicia was still only seventeen and just as resentful of being asked to do anything as any other teenager.

            "Not fair . . .nobody else's parents . . .think I'm Cinderella," she grumbled to herself as she cast an Ironing spell on the pile of clothes before her. There were other spells or rather, she admitted, jinxes that she wanted to learn, but no, she had to learn all the domestic spells to help out around the house.

            Alicia watched the iron press her mother's blouse and yawned. Once she'd got down to her holiday homework, it hadn't been that bad and she'd finished quickly. Now she wished she'd delayed it, if she'd delayed it her parents would never have had their brilliant idea about her playing the house-witch.

            There was a soft thud against the window and she recognized the grey lump immediately as the Weasley owl, Errol.  She hastily opened the window and pulled the owl inside. He looked blearily up at her and dropped a letter in her lap. She thanked him and carried him over to Athena's cage. Athena clucked her beak in sympathy and moved over to allow him access to her water.

              Alicia slit open the envelope and read the letter with growing concern. How could this have happened? The Weasleys had seemed like such a solid family. How could Percy have been so stupid? 

            She remembered the night she'd panicked over her Transfiguration OWL. She'd been trying desperately to remember the difference between the incantation for a Switching spell and the incantation for a Vanishing spell and had finally slumped down on her textbook. 

            "I give up," she'd said to no one in particular, "I'll never get this."

            Across the common room, Percy Weasley had closed his Defense Against the Dark Arts book, pushed back his chair, and crossed over to her.

            "It's not that hard," he'd said, not unkindly, and had explained the differences to her until she knew them backwards and forwards.

            She shook her head still wondering at Percy's apparent idiocy. She also wondered how on earth either of the twins could think that they were in any way responsible. She quickly wrote a reply and called Athena over. 

            "You need a rest," she explained to Errol, "you can fly back when you look up to it."

Sunday

Dear George,                                                                                                  

NO, NO, NO! You are in no way responsible for Percy's being a git. You tease _everybody_. You laughed at Angelina for being a prefect too. And you two are never really malicious except maybe when it comes to Malfoys.

            Do you want to know what I think? I think there's more going on than meets the eye. I mean, Percy's not _stupid_ and he does have good intentions. I know because he helped me out with Transfiguration when I was studying for the OWLs even though he was studying really hard for the NEWTs. As I said, I don't think you have anything to do with Percy's leaving.

              It must hurt though to come home proud of being promoted hoping your family will be proud too and then they tell you that you haven't been promoted on your merit at all but as a tool for someone else. That's probably what set Percy off more than anything. I think he'll come around. And if he doesn't, that's his loss.

                                                         Love,

                                                               Alicia

p.s. I've sent Athena because Errol looks like he needs a rest. He'll be along soon but unburdened with a letter.

            "No," Fred said, holding up a long piece of flesh colored string, "that's not going to be long enough, it needs to get down the stairs and next to the kitchen."

            "And if we cast a Lengthening Charm, we can't hear anything clearly, there must be something we're missing." George studied the string thoughtfully.

            Fred tossed it aside, "I think we're thinking too hard. Let's think about something else."

            "Well, on an up note, the Fainting Fancies work pretty well. Ginny tried one. She said she wanted to see why all the ladies in medieval times were always fainting."

            A black owl shot in through the half open window, dropped a letter in Fred's lap and zoomed out again. 

            "Hey, Hecate! Wait!"  Fred groaned, "That owl never waits for a reply. Just like Angelina, never lets me get a word in edgewise."

            He opened the letter.

            "Well?" asked George, "What's she say?"

            "Here." Fred handed it over to his twin.

            "Oh, honestly, Fred, don't be such an idiot. If everyone who's ever been teased by you two decided to side with the Ministry, the Ministry would be packed to the gills," George read aloud. "Oh, well, that's one answer."

            "From the outspoken Chaser, let's wait and see what the practical one says."

            As it turned out they didn't have very long to wait. Alicia's owl, Athena, was already sitting on George's bedspread blinking a pair of large amber eyes at them expectantly.

            George opened his letter.

            "She says the same thing. Nothing to do with us. And she's got Errol. Says he looks like he needs a rest. When doesn't he look like he needs a rest? That's just _Errol_."

            "That's a relief" said Fred.

            George wasn't listening, he was already scribbling a reply. As Athena departed, he had a sudden idea.

            "Fred, what if we make them slightly thicker before we do the Lengthening charm? That way we might still get the right hearing quality even if they are longer."

            "That's worth a try." And the twins turned back to their experiments.

Tuesday

Dear Alicia,                                                    

            Thank you. You've got a point. Angelina wrote almost the exact same thing except she worded it in typical Angelina terms. _'Oh, honestly, Fred, don't be such an idiot.'_  

             We've been doing some housecleaning lately. Mum says it's so we learn to be responsible. And it would be awful except that we're finding some interesting things that we can use for Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Fred and I try to pocket them when Mum isn't looking. Hermione has come too and she's helping as well. She can usually figure out what something is when none of the rest of us has any idea. Sometimes it's good to have a know–it- all around. But I prefer the green eyed variety. You know, the one who got an O on her Ancient Runes OWL.

                                                       Love,

                                                             George


	6. Everybody

Disclaimer: The usual, they ain't mine, they're the property of someone with much greater talent than mine. Oh, except for Will who is mine.

A/N: I'll try to update more frequently, there are three more chapters to go but I am in the midst of a devastatingly discouraging job search. I'm smart, I'm friendly, I'm qualified, why isn't that enough? In any case, traveling all over the place with resumes does not leave much time for writing. I've just submitted another small one-shot that I hope will tide you over till the seventh installment. And of course, enormous thanks to Zsenya for beta-reading and who got this chapter back to me in record time. Oh, and who can spot the Monty Python joke?  

Alicia was gradually beginning to appreciate the extra chores. If anything, it forced her to practice most of her charms and as she would be taking her NEWTs that year, the extra practice would definitely be helpful. 

            At the moment, however, she had finished her chores and was polishing her broomstick.  She couldn't wait to get back into Quidditch. She, Kit, and Angelina had organized their own practice.  When she and Angelina had been in second year and Kit had been in her first, they'd made a pact that they would become the best three Chasers that had ever existed. They'd dubbed this pact The Best Chasers Union and they all felt that they were getting close to that ideal. Their moves were nearly seamless and they could almost read each other's thoughts. 

            Alicia looked critically over her Cleansweep 8. It was a good broom, serviceable and sensible, but sometimes she wished it had a bit more flash like the Nimbus series did. She was saving her Galleons but they hadn't added up yet.

            "Alicia," Will called up the stairs, "there's an owl."

            "Tell it I authorized you to take the letter" Alicia called back.

            "Right."

            Alicia shrugged and picked up her clippers to trim the tail twigs when Will let out an excited shout. She heard his rapid footsteps up the stairs and waited. She cringed as her door slammed open so forcefully that it hit the side wall. Will was waving a letter around wildly in one hand. 

            "Lis! I've got a letter! I'm going to Hogwarts! I'm a _wizard!_" Will was practically dancing with enthusiasm. 

"Let's see." Alicia reached for it. Her brother reluctantly handed it to her.

            "I'll give it back." she reassured him. She scanned the contents of the letter and handed it back to him before she flung her arms round him and gave him a hug.

            "Hey! Get off!" Will protested. Alicia gave him one last squeeze.

 "Well, you'll have to come to Diagon Alley with me. Have you told Mum and Dad?" 

            "No, they're not home"

            "You know, Will, we have this handy Muggle device called a telephone . . ."

            Will grinned, "You're right."

            And he went downstairs to call his parents.

            That evening, conversation around the Spinnet table revolved completely around Hogwarts and Will.

            "Now, you know, Di, we ought to go to that meeting that we went to when Alicia was accepted," said Mr. Spinnet.

            Mrs. Spinnet nodded, "Yes, I've gotten used to it but best to do it again with Will."

            "That's not what you said when_ I_ got my letter." Alicia smiled, remembering. "You thought that they'd try and turn you into a newt or something so that I could go."

            "We got better," said both Spinnet parents together and laughed.

            "Actually, Alicia, nearly seven years of a witch in the family does make one rather more open to the possibility. Of course, I always enjoy a trip to Diagon Alley and now I won't have to give them up for another seven years." Mrs. Spinnet smiled at her daughter.

            "What House do you want to be in?" Alicia asked, changing the turn of conversation.

            Will looked up from _Hogwarts: A History_, "I think I'd be a good Slytherin actually."

            "_Slytherin?!!!_" Alicia was incredulous.

            "Well, it says Slytherins are ambitious, and I'm ambitious and you know I know how to get what I want."

            "Yes, but . . .but . . .all the witches and wizards who went Dark were Slytherins."

            "That doesn't mean all Slytherins are Dark. Anyway, fresh blood ought to change a bit of that."

            "But, Will, you're not pureblood. Hardly any Slytherins aren't pureblood."

            "So I'll start a trend. I'll change the reputation of that House single-handedly if necessary."         

Alicia smiled at her brother, "I knew you were a rather exceptional eleven-year-old but I guess I didn't realize how exceptional. Good luck."

            Will grinned back, "I'm not really particular about the House. After all, I'll be at _Hogwarts_. And whichever House I'm in, I'll try to play Quidditch!"

Monday

Dear everybody,                                                                                    

        I'm making several copies of this letter to send to all of you. Will's a wizard, too! He got the letter this morning. I was cleaning my broom when Will came banging into my room waving a letter around. I've suspected ever since he found that passageway in Italy but the letter confirms it!

          Mum and Dad are thrilled which shows how far Mum has come since I got my letter. I think the various useful things we buy in Diagon Alley helped convince her. Actually, she even admitted that at dinner last night.

         Will's an ambitious little sod. He's been reading my copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ and says he thinks Slytherin has been wronged. He _wants_ to be a Slytherin. He's convinced he's going to change the house from DEs to politicians single-handedly.  I think it's because his favorite colors are green and silver. 

            But he also says he doesn't really care all that much which house he's Sorted into because he'll be at Hogwarts. He wants to play Quidditch too. 

              We'll be going to Diagon Alley next week soon to get our books and supplies. Will can't wait to get his wand. Any of you going to be around then? Want to go together?

                                                                                                Love,

                                                                                                       Alicia

            Grimmauld Place was not big, exactly, but it was big enough. It also appeared that the Blacks had been incorrigible pack rats. They'd saved everything most of which Sirius wanted to get rid of. It was difficult to throw many of the items away. Some of them homed back on the house, Kreacher absconded with others and some were covered in nasty jinxes. Everyone was grateful for the large book on jinxes and their counters that Hermione had brought with her. 

            Fred and George had been trying to remove a pair of extremely ugly dragon figurines and had ended up literally joined at the hip.  They were dealing with this situation with their normal good humor and currently considered themselves in training for a three- legged race.  

            Hermione was glaring at them as she flipped through the book to find a possible counter curse. She quite clearly felt that levity was the wrong attitude to take in such a situation.

The large brown owl that swooped in and dropped a rather dusty letter on her head did not improve her mood in the slightest.

            "Here," she snapped, "it's for you two!"

            The twins maneuvered themselves as best they could to take the letter.  Once they'd finished reading, they had a bit of trouble replying so the letter looked a bit smudged in places. Alicia wouldn't mind too much.

Wednesday

Dear Alicia,                                                                               

         Tell Will congratulations from us. You can also tell him that we'll show him all the secret passages the castle has no matter what house he's in although if he's a Slytherin, we might be a bit tempted to lock him in one. We might be around if you want to go to Diagon Alley, but we have to see if we're needed here first.

                                                                                          Fred and George

            When Angelina received Alicia's letter, she was tinkering with her Nimbus 2000 to see if there were any modifications she could make on it. Wood had taught her that it was possible to modify a broom to make it go faster and if Angelina was going to be Quidditch Captain as she hoped, it was important for her to have the best broom possible. And of course it was also fun just to play around with her broomstick. Angelina propped the broomstick up against her closet door and pulled out quill and parchment. She searched through the piles of _Quidditch Weekly_ and _Which Broomstick_ to find the notes that she and Alicia had made. Finally, finding them under a special issue of _Quidditch Weekly _celebrating the glorious years of the Holyhead Harpies, she began her essay for Professor Binns. She was not looking forward to the NEWTs at all. She'd done well enough on her OWLs but she was tiring of school. She wanted to get out and do nothing but play Quidditch. When she'd mentioned this to Alicia, Alicia had nodded sympathetically and agreed. 

            Speaking of which, Angelina wished that Athena would quit going straight to the highest perches when there were others available. This was because Athena had chosen to land with her grubby claws right on the point of the broom Angelina had just finished polishing. Angelina fixed the owl with her best annoyed stare. Athena ruffled her feathers nervously, dropped the letter into Angelina's hand, and took off again to the accompaniment of Hecate's indignant hoots at being ignored.

Wednesday

Dear Alicia,                                                                              

Good for Will. He's a trendsetter all right. But there must be some good Slytherins, after all, there have been some awful Gryffindors, remember the Waters sisters? As for Diagon Alley, count me in!

                                                                             Love,

                                                                                                   Angelina

            Katie had returned to her job at the teashop after her holiday with Angelina and was not happy about it. Mrs. Alvers was just as awful as she had been before and Kit had tried to explain to her parents that she _was_ disciplined. She'd finished that essay, hadn't she? And she was already making up NEWT study schedules even though she didn't have to take them until the next year. They had acknowledged that this was so, but they thought that, strict as Mrs. Alvers was, the teashop was probably one of the safest places for Kit to be if You-Know-Who had risen again.

            Kit knew nothing of these considerations and decided that it was a scheme of her parents to make her miserable once again. Still, the job did have its compensations. Certain aspects of the teahouse required magic and so Kit had gotten special permission from the Ministry to use magic even though she was underage. 

As a result, her spells were improving.  This was important because Kit's parents had told her that she could not play Quidditch that year if her marks weren't better. She was no longer worried though. The constant practice meant that she gained confidence in her abilities and as she gained confidence, her spells continued to improve which furthered her confidence. She'd planned to ask Alicia and Angelina to help her out, but that no longer seemed necessary.  

Almost completely in tune with Kit's thoughts, Alicia's owl swept in through the window, took one look at Mrs. Alvers' steely glare, and carefully let the letter drop into Kit's hands. Kit scanned the letter and began to smile.

"Well, Bell, what is it?" asked Mrs. Alvers severely.

"My friend Alicia, she's Muggle-born, her little brother's a wizard, he just got his letter." 

Mrs. Alvers smiled, the first genuine smile Kit had seen from her.

"Well, that's just wonderful. Will they be coming to Diagon Alley?"

"Yes, I think so."

"When they do, why don't you take the time off and show that boy around? I managed well enough without you before, I can certainly do so again."

 Kit blinked in surprise, "Thank you, Mrs. Alvers."

"Now go on and reply, you can finish tidying later."

Wednesday

Dear Alicia,                                                                            

       Last time I saw Will, he had the potential to be pretty cute. Does he still have it? Sometimes I think I ought to switch my tendencies to younger males. Oh well, I'll find out at Hogwarts.

                                                          Love,

                                                                Kit

p.s. Diagon Alley sounds fine.  Meet you at _Quality Quidditch Supplies_.

Friday

Dear Kit,                                                                                             

         Hands off my little brother, you harlot. Don't you have a Keeper to be getting on with?

                                                              Love,

                                                                    Alicia

            The audition for commenting had actually gone quite well and Lee felt that he could hear himself on the WWN. He'd liked the technology and professional nature of the box which was a far cry from the rickety box and megaphone in the school's Quidditch stands.

            "And that looks to win it for the Kestrels! The newest member of the team, Ms. Angelina Johnson is a recent graduate of Hogwarts. This is Lee Jordan for the WWN!"

            Betsy turned her back on him and concentrated on the enormous cricket she was eating.

            "Well, I'm working on it!" Lee snapped at her. He thought for a moment and added, "And they did ask me to come back."

            Betsy looked up from the cricket as if to acknowledge that but she still thought it needed work.

            "I can't wait till term starts, then I can really get practice in, it's hard when all you have to commentate is how quickly your tarantula catches her meal."

            Betsy looked back at him mournfully or at least as mournfully as it is possible for a tarantula to look.

            "I'm sorry," he apologized, "You really did get that cricket faster than the last time. I think you broke a record."

            Betsy wiggled her front legs happily.

            "Ooops," said Lee, noticing the brown owl tapping at his window. He shut Betsy safely in her cage and opened the window. The owl looked exhausted so he decided that he would send his family owl back with his reply and let this one rest a bit.

            He read through the letter with interest. So the Spinnet line would be continuing at Hogwarts and perhaps the Quidditch talent would too. He flipped the letter over and wrote on the back as was their custom.

Wednesday

Dear Alicia,                                                   

If Will really wants to learn about Quidditch, I'll brave McGonagall and try and take him up in the commentating box with me. He'll have the best view there not only of Quidditch but the prettiest girls in seventh year.

                                                                            Lee


	7. George

Disclaimer: These things are so annoying. No, not mine.

A/N: Here at last is an update and I am now in the process of converting and uploading the final chapters. They should be up in an hour or so. I hope you enjoy them. Also, I do do requests so if there's a scene you'd like to see but can't be bothered writing yourself, just ask me.

Dear Alicia,

     Technically, I'm probably not supposed to tell you this. Heck, I'm not even supposed to know, but Fred and I have invented Extendable Ears so we overheard Mum and some others discussing it. Of course, she caught us with the Ears so now we can't use them any more but we did extract some useful information.

       Harry was attacked by two Dementors the other day. He actually produced a Patronus. But the stupid Ministry of Magic is setting him a disciplinary hearing because of the stupid Restriction for Underage Magic. He might be expelled from Hogwarts, but  if what Dad says is right, it's not likely.

         I wanted to warn you because these Dementors appeared in a Muggle neighborhood and I know you live in a Muggle neighborhood as well. Be careful, all right? 

      I can't meet you in Diagon Alley as Mum wants us here to keep cleaning the place. It hasn't been cleaned in about 10 years and Mum found a bunch of dead Puffskeins plus some of the curtains are buzzing with Doxies. Fred and I are going to get hold of some for some more of our Wheezes. Say hello to Angie and Kit for me when you see them.

                                                                                             Love,

                                                                                                  George

Dear George,

         Harry was attacked by Dementors?!! He can produce a Patronus?!! They can't expel him, they just can't. That was a life threatening situation.  Harry's with you all now, I hope wherever you are. 

           It must be dusty in that house. Athena always comes back covered in dust from delivering a letter to you. 

            I had a nice time in Diagon Alley with Angie and Kit and Will. Will loved it. He's got a good wand, 12 inches, ash with a dragon heartstring. Mum said he ought to get himself an owl as I use Athena so much that he'd never get a chance to. So he has. He's named him Apollo. Apollo is a gray screech owl. He's very excited about going to Hogwarts and has been pestering me with questions about teachers and classes.

            Speaking of which, who do you suppose assigned that rubbishy Slinkhard book? Well, the new DADA teacher, I guess, but if the teacher's assigned that book, the teacher will be rubbish as well. 

                                                                                    Your Alicia


	8. Harry

Disclaimer: No, they are not mine.

A/N: Very short one this time.

Dear Harry (Lord Green-eyes),

           I hope Athena finds you and that you're all right. Don't worry about the hearing. I know you'll get off. After all, we need our Seeker.

                                                                     Alicia (Lady Green-eyes)

Dear Alicia (Lady Green-eyes),

             I'm all right or as well as I can be when no one tells me anything. I hope you're right about getting off. Hope I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express.

                                                                     Harry


	9. Angelina

Disclaimer: If I had a Chocolate Frog for all the times I had to say they weren't mine . . .

A/N: Perhaps this is why Angelina is in such a bad temper throughout OotP.

Dear Alicia,

          Could I come and stay with you for a bit? Mum and Dad are really angry with me and I'm equally angry with them. Mum believes everything in the Daily Prophet. She says Harry's delusional and that if You Know Who really is back, Fudge would have acknowledged it.  Dad agrees. And as if that weren't enough, they agree that Dumbledore is trying to discredit Fudge.

             I tried to explain that if they'd seen what I saw last year they wouldn't say things like that and that it was Dumbledore who told us You Know Who was back. Not to mention that if Dumbledore wanted to take over the Ministry he'd have done it ages ago and not waited till now. They accused _me_ of being delusional too. They just don't want anyone or anything to muddy up their comfortable little world. We'll see what they say when some Death Eaters pay them a visit.  Anyway, Lis, I really need to get out of here so if I could come stay with you till it's time to go to school, I'd appreciate it.

                                                                              Love,

                                                                                   Angelina

Dear Angelina,

         Of course you can stay with me. Why don't you just Apparate over when you get this letter?  I'm sorry your parents are so blind. Mine don't know anything about You Know Who. For them, ignorance is bliss. I had to tell Will though. Poor Will, he had to learn that the wizarding world is not all good. 

                                                      Love,

                                                             Alicia


	10. Katie

Disclaimer:  I'm so tired of writing these. If you don't know by now that they aren't mine, I feel for you.

Dear Kit,

        If you need to talk to me or Angie, you can write to us both at my house. You Know Who has already started causing divides, but I'll let Angie tell you about that. How was your dinner with Oliver? How was the Puddlemere game?

                                                                  Love,

                                                                      Alicia

Dear Alicia and Angelina,

        I know. My parents are getting more and more active. They're stepping up the search for any DEs who might have gotten away. Funnily enough, I think it makes them happy. There's a constant buzz of activity round the house and Mum has gotten out all the old Dark detectors. 

   But they say there are a lot of people who aren't happy and won't believe it. Their department is already splitting down the middle. 

 The Puddlemere game was amazing. Oliver told me since he was a reserve not to expect him to play but their Keeper was injured so he had to play. We always knew he was good but since we were concentrating on Chasing we never really saw him play. 

         He's an amazing Keeper. I've never seen anything like it. I have no idea why he is still only a reserve.  He didn't let the Quaffle in once the whole game. The Kestrels were absolutely mortified because you know their Chasers are some of the best in the league, but they couldn't get past Oliver.  The game was over pretty quickly so Oliver and I ended up having a nice leisurely dinner together.

        We talked over a lot of things that needed to be said that hadn't been. He says what he heard about the Yule Ball really bothered him. Which is good as that is partially what I was trying to do (yes, I know, sneaky Kit). But that's what let us talk. And though it will be a bit long distance till I graduate from Hogwarts, we've worked it out. He says it doesn't matter as Puddlemere will be doing a lot of traveling too. Funny how useful Apparating is though. I'm considerably happy about this. It was enough to warrant a SQUEE! then but now it's settled into a sort of just happy contentment enough to ward off whatever dreadful DADA teacher we'll have. Mum says Slinkhard is a coward if she ever read one.

                         Love,

                               Kit


	11. Lee

Disclaimer: Sigh. For the umpteenth time, no, they are not mine.

A/N: Another short one. But sometimes letters are just like that.

Dear Lee,

         Congratulations! I guess you stood out among the boring balding ones and McGonagalls. They must have needed some new blood and doesn't it feel wonderful not to have to worry about what you're going to do next year? Can't wait to see you and hear your Quidditch commentary again.

                                                     Love from,

                                                            Alicia

Dear Alicia,

           Thanks. It is a load off my mind and I think I'll be a bit rebellious in my commentary this year. I think I'll tease Angie a bit to pay her back for that Canary Cream she slipped into my pasty last year. Still, we have got the NEWTs to worry about.

                                                           Lee


	12. Fred and George

Disclaimer: No, no, no, never mine.

Dear Alicia and Angelina,

                HE GOT OFF! 

                                   Love,

                                        Fred and George

p.s. Ickle Ronniekins is a prefect.

Dear Weasleys,

           Hooray! We've still got a Seeker! Angelina is very happy as she just got a letter saying that McGonagall has made her Quidditch captain. I just hope she doesn't start channeling Wood, but knowing Angie, oh dear, she's nudging my elbow, obviously she wants to write. Here she is.

       You two had better be practicing your Beating while cleaning that house. You can do it while looking for Doxies or other loathsome magical creatures. We're going to win the Cup again this year, I'm determined for that.  

                                        Love,

                                              Alicia and Angelina


	13. Ron

Disclaimer: Never a prefect and never will be. Never owned HP and never will own it.

Dear Ron,

        Fred and George have just written us that you've been made a prefect. Don't mind their teasing. You'll do a great job. We have confidence in you and we know the first years will too. Congratulations.

                                      Alicia, Katie and Angelina

Dear Alicia, Katie and Angelina

                Thanks. I was surprised it wasn't Harry.

                                                         Ron

p.s. Sorry about Pig. He's a hyperactive owl.


	14. George

Disclaimer: Phew. Last one.

A/N: Here it is. The last short letter. I figured I ought to end on a G/A note. And the letters are short because I imagine them having scrawled them off very quickly as they were in a hurry to actually see each other and not just write. Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.

Dear Alicia,

             Ready for seventh year? You do realize that you will now have to participate in at least some of our pranks right? You can drop the good girl image for a bit. There's no doubt you'll do well in your NEWTs and you could use a bit of fun. You know, the behind Fortescue's type of fun.  See you in two days on the Hogwarts Express.

                                                               Love,

                                                                     George

Dear George,

           I tested your Canary Creams for you. What makes you think that I wouldn't participate in some of your pranks? And the good girl image? You of all people ought to know, that's all it is. An image. As Kit says, it's always the quiet ones.  Fortescue type fun is very appealing to me, dear. Perhaps we can find an empty compartment on the express. See you tomorrow.

                                                      Your Alicia

The End


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